This seems like the key thing: There was another intriguing connection: Acinetobacter are molecular mimics of proteins found in myelin, the nerve cell coating

This seems like the key thing: There was another intriguing connection: Acinetobacter are molecular mimics of proteins found in myelin, the nerve cell coating that the immune system attacks in MS. It sounds like a very similar situation to PANDAS and PANS: http://www.pandasnetwork.org/understanding-pandaspans/what-is-pans/ http://www.pandasnetwork.org/understanding-pandaspans/what-i... Some bacteria have evolved to trick our immune system into ignoring them, but an overactive immune system will attack that bacteria and the human cells they're trying to mimic.